A commentary carried by the People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China, has voiced strong condemnation of a Japanese mayor's denial of the Nanjing Massacre.

A commentary under the byline of Zhong Sheng published in the Thursday edition of the newspaper said that the mayor's comments were "not only unconscionable but also ignorant."

Kawamura Takashi, mayor of Japanese city Nagoya, on Monday said the Nanjing Massacre "probably never happened" while meeting with a delegation from Nanjing, a city that witnessed mass murder, genocide and rape following its invasion by the Japanese in 1937.

Chinese people cherish friendship with people from countries all over the world, but that friendship should not come unscrupulously, the commentary said.

Chinese will always bear the country's history and national dignity in mind and will never compromise on these issues, it went on.

The commentary said the mayor's comments, made during an official meeting, should not be understated as personal opinion.

The article also noted that Kawamura is not alone among Japanese society in making these claims, as some Nagoya residents had expressed support of his words after the incident.

Japan fails to conduct thorough reflection of its aggression in the past, and the remarks of Kawamura and his supporters are just the latest incident to upset the international community after cases of distortion of history in Japanese textbooks. There has also been a lack of sensitivity displayed by Japanese personages visiting Yasukuni Shrine, seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, to pay respect to top war criminals, the article said.

The article further called for a responsible attitude toward history and China-Japan relations.

Nanjing and Nagoya established sister-city ties in 1978. Following Nagoya mayor's remarks, the Nanjing Municipal Government announced Tuesday that it would suspend official exchanges with Nagoya.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei Wednesday said the ministry supports the decision by Nanjing municipal authorities.

The Nanjing Massacre was an atrocity committed by the Japanese military as proved by irrefutable evidence. The international community has long reached final conclusion on this matter, which brooks no doubt, Luo Zhaohui, head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Asian affairs department, said during a meeting with Shinsuke Sugiyama, the Japanese Foreign Ministry's director general for Asian and Oceanian affairs.

(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2012)